Paper Thin Silence
by Sablier-Apocalypse
Summary: Break is badly injured after a fight, and he permanently loses his voice. As he's given a week to live and loses his other senses, Gilbert promises to protect him in any possible way before it's too late. Post-Retrace 56 AU.


_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've always wanted to write something like this. Always. Gilbert and Break are actually one of my many OTPs of Pandora Hearts, so this is going to rip my heart up to finish writing. It's always hard to figure out how to start fics involving Break, so I went with the fight with the Baskervilles. It would be an AU where when Gil comes in, Break collapses too soon. He's bedridden for a week, Gilbert tells him he should take care of himself more. Then Break tries to call out to Gilbert, no sound from him comes out at all. Nothing. Also I am a lazy fucker who is no good at dialogue, so…. Anyway, This fanfiction was literally spawned from, "Paperthin Hymn" (Amberlin), one of my very favorite songs. So thank you to them. ;w; Enjoy?_

_—-_

"Not again."

The wind swirled around him, slicing through the very physical reality. Pitch black darkness ripped through the night sky surrounding Break, or perhaps it was just his own blindness playing against him. The howling wind wasn't nearly enough to drown out the pounding in his head and the burning in his chest. Trying to hold it back, he brought his hand to his mouth, but it was no use. Just a mere second after, a shock ran through him as he began coughing. Coughing up _blood._ It dripped through his fingers, staining his gloved hands with a crimson mess. It wasn't like this hadn't happened before, so it was no real shock to him, but despite that he couldn't see it, he felt as though he had hacked up more than usual. Then feeling another pounding at his side, he placed a hand against his abdomen, and felt the wound that was left, realizing he was still badly injured.

The Baskervilles were strong, yes, but so was his chain. At this point, Break began to seriously wonder who would go down first. _"Who will die first…. me, or them?",_he thought to himself. The pounding in his head, the aches all throughout his body, he was almost convinced of the answer.

That familiar, solemn smile started to form across his face. This was it. Drawing in what he thought would be his last breath, he then whispered to himself,

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter either way."

Off in the distance, someone was calling his name. Break couldn't make out the voice clearly, even with his hearing being as accurate as it was. He was almost certain it was Gilbert, yet still not completely sure. His senses started to flicker as then Break fell to his knees. The world around him started to fade out as the Mad Hatter went back to where it came from. He then continued to cough violently, for that he coughed up even more blood than last time. Blood dripping from pale lips, he completely fell to the ground. Gilbert then had made his way to Break. Picking up the other man and balancing him against his back, Gilbert was already quite offset about the situation in the first place.

"Break, you're such a fool."

A week later, Break was finally waking up. He had been bedridden for so much longer than when they had ventured into Sablier…. but he already lost his vision, this couldn't have been much worse, whatever the outcome was. His hearing was still so sharp, for he heard every footstep that was near, every movement. He still woke up to the pure blackness that blocked out his vision, so that wasn't out of the ordinary. Gilbert, walking into Break's room and facing him, he didn't say much, except for warninbg Break he should be more careful.

"Break, you… you got hurt out there, you should take it easy for once." Gilbert said, still looking down to the ground. Turning away slightly, Gilbert took a step from the bed. Turning himself to try to grab onto Gilbert's sleeve to pull him back and explain something, a moment later, he felt a nagging pain in his side that made him flinch in pain. He touched the aftermath of the wound, tracing his fingers along the bandages. He then gasped in pain.. or so he thought. Something seemed off about the whole situation. Gilbert had noticed Break's movements, and turned back around, as well as that no sound came from it.

"Break… is something wrong…?" Gilbert said, anxiety starting to form in his eyes. Break then averted his gaze to meet Gilbert's.

Then bringing his hand from his side, drew it along his chest, until it reached his throat. He placed his hand against it, and tried to make any kind of noise. He tried to yell out, he tried to say something. His mouth moved, yet no sound escaped. "Break….. Break! Answer me—" Gilbert began to whisper-shout at Break, but then…

His eyes went wide, looking back at Break. No words, no sound, which could only mean something. _"You…. can't speak, can you…?"_

With a look of anguish in his eyes, Break looked back at Gilbert and nodded.

It was over. Break had lost his voice.

Permanently.

—-

_"If I could turn around, I would tonight, these roads never seemed so long since your paper heart stopped beating leaving you suddenly alone, will daybreak ever come?"_

_-"Paper Thin Hymn": Amberlin_


End file.
